Is Web3 a solution seeking a problem?

Thx for sharing @petergyang. 👍 I’m keen on leveraging web3 to solve for the inherent issues within web2 marketplace s… namely as scale is achieved the supply side feels less supported / connected.

that's exactly my impression on web3

If Web3 means anything it means using blockchain technology and cryptoassets to empower indviduals, businesses, and communities in a way that Web2 cannot. What are blockchains good for? Blockchains do two things: they reduce uncertainty via transparency of their public ledgers and they diminish risk because their P2P nature makes intermediaries unnecessary. Examples: It's easy to prove that I control a bitcoin address and you can see how much bitcoin is associated with that address. It's not easy to do the same with a bank or paypal account. I can be certain of ownership and control of cryptoassets in a way that I cannot with centralized money systems. And, despite all the scams and rugpulls and ponzis that plague these early days of BTC and the decentralized systems that were inspired by it, blockchains reduce risk. Examples: I can receive, hold, and transfer a blockchain-based asset without relying on intermediaries like banks or e-wallets. I can do it directly, peer-to-peer. Contrast this to centralized money systems where your account can be closed, your money confiscated, and your transfer blocked for no good reason, or worse for politically-motivated reasons. So whenever you hear anyone bloviating about Blockchains and their derivatives/applications (DAOs, NFTs, etc)-- if they aren't talking about reducing risk or uncertainty then it's unclear why they are using a blockchain in the first place. What are cryptoassets (the native tokens of blockchains) good for? The same thing all assets are good for-- incentives, rewards, payments, wealth preservation, etc. The difference is that because they are enabled by decentralized ledgers (public blockchains), these assets can be used by anyone, irrespective of geographic location or local laws and regulations. Examples: I can do work for a blockchain protocol (mining, validating, staking) and earn the native token of that protocol. No one can stop me from doing this work and earning this reward. And this permissionless nature means that these cryptoassets can be earned by anyone who does the work. Likewise I can do any kind of work -- not just protocol-defined contributions-- and request to be paid in a cryptoasset. I don't need a bank or Paypal account. I don't need a valid govt-issued ID or permission from any intermediary. I can get paid for work done just by providing a blockchain address. The promise of DAOs is in combining the certainty (via onchain transparency) of decentralized ledgers (blockchains) and the anyone-can-earn nature of cryptoassets. DAOs can enable transparent governance-- a certainty of how many governance tokens there are and how they were voted-- and permissionless capital formation-- anyone can fund the DAO's treasury by sending cryptoassets to the DAO's address in exchange for governance tokens. Once a DAO is funded, the governance token holders can vote to approve and reward anyone for work done and the recipients can get paid in the cryptoasset of the DAO or the treasury no matter where they reside geographically (see above on the perimissionless value of cryptoasset payments). I think of DAOs as satellites or space stations orbiting the earth or travelling through space. They exist at a remove from their planet of origin, but are controllable from it. They can impact their point of origin but cannot easily be impacted by non-participants due to their being at a remove. Whats needed is more launch platforms that make it easy for these satellites/rockests/space stations to be assembled and fueled and filled with instruments of purpose and action prior to being launched. Communities need to coalesce around products, projects, networks in a centralized way before being launched into decentralized orbit. To stretch the analogy further-- lots of junk has been launched into orbit, but that doesn't mean we can't build and launch DAOs that can have a real positive impact back on earth leveraging the power of decentralized networks and their cryptoassets. I personally believe that every digital product, every online community, and every web2 network can and should be "coinified" and then decentralized into a play-to-earn/learn/own network. I'm working toward that vision with Slyk.

Well, I kind of share @saifedean's opinion who considered that most of the things we say only crypto can achieve can already be performed with Web2 platforms. You can already build an online reputation outside of the traditional school system via a list of marketplaces. You can already trade with peers with better terms than those offered by traditional banks (granted, you usually pay a commission to a platform but that's the incentive to finance marketing & product development). As for NFTs, they're just a digital token for (theoretically) a unique work of art. Unique Works Of Art have been around for centuries. I would argue that the main advantage of NFTs is to pass a royalty to the original creator through successive sales, without the need to trust any middleman / agent. But NFTs haven't really changed the nature of community/fame-driven businesses. You can produce the coolest Monkey JPEG on earth, you won't sell it if you don't have a following. IMO (and here again I share @saifedean's position), the main innovation in crypto remains BTC, which enables you to move money (seen as Property) through space and time in a permissionless manner.